Space Hero Saturdays MAJOR INAPAK: SPACE ACE

Buckle On Your Blaster Belts, Kiddies...

...as we hurtle through the depths of outer space (and learn invaluable scientific facts) with the one-and-only Major Inapak and kid stowaway-turned-sidekick, Robin John!
Our tale begins in the far-distant year of 2031...













Sadly, there were no further adventures of Major Inapak and Robin John/"Master Rocketeer"!

Illustrated by Bob Powell and scripted by Powell, Gardner Fox or the two in collaboration.

We presented background info about Major Inapak and Inapak Chocolate Drink  HERE and HERE!

You may note the cover doesn't have a price on it!

It wasn't sold on newsstands or in candy stores!
It was likely handed out at licensing trade shows to show merchandisers how publisher Magazine Enterprises could produce a tie-in comic with their products, just as DC and Marvel do today!

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Space Hero Saturdays SPACEBALLS: THE ANIMATED SERIES!

With the news of the upcoming Spaceballs 2: the Schwartz Awakens...

...we're presenting something most space sci-fi fans don't even know exists...Spaceballs the Animated Series, which came and went in 2008-2009 without making much of an impression!

Created and executive produced by Mel Brooks (who also reprised his roles as President Skroob and Yogurt), the show adapted the movie in its' first two episodes, making a couple of changes (like Lone Star isn't a prince so he can't marry Princess Vespa) for the ongoing series.
Some movie cast returned to voice their characters again, including Daphne Zuniga (Princess Vespa), Joan Rivers (Dot Matrix), and Dom DeLuise (Pizza the Hutt).
The other roles were filled by sound-alikes.
The biggest drawback is the computer-generated animation that's only a step above the limited animation of the 1960s Marvel Super-Heroes Show (which has the excuse of being animated directly from photostats of the detailed original comic art by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, etc).
Because Blogger doesn't embed non-YouTube links, here are links that, when you click on them, will open into new windows...

The TV Teaser for the series' premiere!

Episode One: Dark Helmet's Revenge 

Episode Two: the Schwartz Strikes Back!

After you've watched them, go to Secret Sanctum of Captain Video to see the final show of the series, spoofing Marvel Comics!

Space Hero Saturdays WITCHCRAFT "Hero of the Venus Flyer!"

Being a Space Hero Can Be as Easy as Being in the Right Place at the Right Time...

...and as difficult as being willing to die to save others!

Illustrated by Gene Fawcette and scriped by an unknown writer, this tale appeared twice within a year, first in Avon's WitchCraft #6 (1953), then in Avon's Strange Worlds #18 (1954), where, due to a miscalculation in pagination, the last page of the story ended up on the inside back cover, in black-and-white!

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Space Hero Saturdays CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT "Flying Saucers of Death!"

Though He Doesn't Go into Outer Space in This Post...

...the "Sentinel of the Spaceways" does take on flying saucers like The Shadow, Buck Rogers. and Spurs Jackson before him!

Trivia: The insignia shown in the final panel are from the US Army Air Corps, the predecessor to the US Air Force....which was formed in September, 1947.

But, though the cover date is 1948, the story was written and illustrated around summer 1947...before the official creation of the Air Force!

Dr Osmosis had appeared once before, in Fawcett's Captain Midnight #52 (1947).
Intended to be an ongoing genius criminal arch-enemy to Cap, his career was derailed by the introduction of colorful alien enemies to battle Midnight.
Dr Osmosis would appear twice more, then disappear into the ether!

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Captain Midnight Saves the World!

(Which includes this story)

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Space Hero Saturdays ROCKETMAN "Venus Afire" / SPURT HAMMOND "Fiery World"

Apparently, People Being Unwilling to Take in Refugees is Not a New Problem!

In fact, it dates back to the 1950s, when this tale was published...or an unspecified future, where this story is set!

This tale from Ajax/Farrell's Rocketman #1 (1952) ignores some basic science, like the fact that the homeless Venusians would have to pass Earth's orbit to get to Mars!

Perhaps that's because this story originally-appeared a dozen years earlier, when science in comic books was at a somewhat more primitive state!

And, please, no jokes about the lead character's name...

When this tale, part of an ongoing Spurt Hammond series (which ran in Planet Comics from #1 to #12), appeared in Fiction House's Planet Comics #8 (1940), the artist was identified through Fiction House records as Henry Kiefer.

But as for who modified the art at the Iger Studios for re-use in Rocketman, we have no idea!
In addition, the other three Rocketman stories were modified and re-used from earlier Iger Studio-provided art for other features...and other publishers!

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Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE "Atomic Attack!"

Before the Space Mouse We've Already Re-Presented HERE and HERE...

...there was an earlier one whose adventures ran for several years!

And this is as close as you'll get to an origin for him featuring the introduction of equipment and plot elements that'll pop up over time in the series!

Oddly, this Frank Cairn-written and illustrated story was neither the lead nor the cover-featured tale in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1953)!

Go figure!

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